Meanwhile, the emerging fake news detection industry has a public relations issue. It looks like the guy who runs Snopes, David P. Mikkelson, embezzled money and used it to buy the services of prostitutes.

Earlier this month, Facebook said it would use the “myth-busting” website to ferret out “fake news” on the popular social media platform.

Finally, Germany is talking tough. It plans to fine Facebook 500,000 euros if it does not take down within 24 hours what the state decides is fake news. The Federal Press Office in the Chancellery plans to establish a “fake news defense center.”

Patrick Sensburg (Christian Democrat), in an interview with Deutsche Welle on Tuesday, argued that the government should be “ratcheting up the statutory offenses” against fake news producers and “take action against the people who run these websites.”